Well thank you all so much for your reviews so far! You're absolute stars. Replies:

Witty-Kate: I hope that by "interesting" you mean that it's the good kind. Any suggestions you'd like to make, please, throw them my way.

lilbishihunter: Thank you for the "wow" – it makes me feel much more intent on making it a worthwhile story! I hope the rest of it continues to make you exclaim so exuberantly! grins

megs626: I'm really glad you think it's IC; that's always a problem when writing something like this, it's so easy to slip OOC. Anyhoo! I'm exactly the same, I needed some new JD/Cox, so I decided to just go for it… let's hope it carries on being so entertaining. I like to think that Chapter 1 is what actually happened… love for the review! Visit again!

TheWeebles: Thanks so much – it was kind of anime/manga, wasn't it? Ah well, just adds to the charm of lovely JD. I'm really glad you're enjoying it; here is the promised update! Keep reading!

Bonzodog: Huge praise, thank you! I hope you enjoy this chapter, it's from Dr. Cox's point of view. I won't do many from his POV, so I hope it's good! Please, keep reading. Thanks again!

Okay, and on with the story. Here's the second chapter; to all those that are waiting for massive slashy goodness, KEEP CALM! It will get here eventually, but I personally enjoy the run up more than everything… enjoy, my lovelies.

My New Bad Habit

Chapter Two – Blindsighted

Dr. Cox POV

Don't get me wrong, I knew Newbie was grieving – I'm not a complete bastard. But the thing that really gets my goat, more than nearly anything, even more than Hugh Jackman, Barbie, and Hugh Jackman and Barbie having crazy, insecure sex - is when a girl cries, and I mean any girl – therefore, the thought of Pamela breaking down in tears in front of me made me wanna rip my beautiful curly locks out of my head and pretty much punch whoever happens to walk in my path. And I think, honestly think, that I'm perfectly within reason to feel that way.

It was for that reason, and that reason alone that I had avoided him the day that he found out about his Dad kicking the bucket. The gossip, as it does, spread around the hospital like wildfire, with Laverne at the forefront (no difference to any other day), and I, quite frankly, had better things to do than sit around and talk about how sad it was, how poor Mary-Jane was probably struggling to cope in all her womanly glory. I mean, give me a break, who needs to hear about that all the live long day? I had patients to see, and I damn well took care of them.

Then, of course, Carla decided that I had to do something for him. Why? Because, as everyone so often tells me (and understand that they suffer for it afterwards) that I am Newbie's mentor, have been since day one, once he'd realised that Kelso was in fact the anti-christ. And well yeah, who can blame him; you discover the kindly old man is a complete asshole and who do you go to? That's right; the embodiment of perfection – AKA, me.

So, after a lot of pinching and muttered Spanish (once a turn on, now a royal pain in the ass), I gave in and agreed to take Newbie's patients for him. It was that, she told me (brandishing a urine sample I might add) or going over to his apartment and giving him a hug. She wasn't the first to suggest such a ridiculous notion, but I was damn well sure she would be the last – so I made it very, very clear (brandishing a blood sample – much more intimidating than urine) that I would take his patients for that day and that would be the end of it. No hugs, no smiles, no awkward pats on the shoulder, not even a real smile – nada. He'd just have to sit back and thank me later.

This, however, did not go to plan. He, being the adolescent little girl that he is, got his panties in a twist once I snapped at him that I was, in fact, taking care of his patients for him. He retorted, in that "grown up" voice he uses when he's angry, that he didn't ask for me to do that – like it would've made a difference with everyone else on my back – and, well, that's pretty much how it eventually led to Barbie suggesting I give him the hug he's always longed for.

I'm no sissy, let's get this straight here and now; hugs are generally reserved for, well, no one but my son. The thought of hugging Newbie was a horrifying aspect and quite honestly made me want to throw myself into a burning building and not come out of it alive…

But I knew Barbie was right. It was the only way he'd come back to work without pouting the entire time.

So, I went in and proposed the hug (less than three seconds and no breath on my neck), expecting tears of joy (see how I would've got angry anyway) and instead, I got shoved.

Three times.

My reaction wasn't as it was supposed to be. I was supposed to throw him up against the wall, smash his head against it and then hit him where he continued to claim were his balls – but of course, it didn't end up that way. I went off on one of my self-indulging rants that I love so much, which I can only imagine prompted him to go off into a little fantasy about someone else, and bang – there it was. Newbie - proving either that he had a very badly timed strap on or that he does in fact have a penis - got…

…

Aw hell, he got a hard on. A full blown, no mistake hard on. Worsening the situation was his attempt to thrust at me – and seriously, if little Lacey hadn't looked at me with such fear in his eyes, I would've castrated and killed him in one movement. I was all ready to knock him out when he looked at me with those damned baby blues and made me feel something wrench deep inside of me – empathy? Sympathy? Pity? I didn't know, and I wasn't about to address it. Instead, I made a joke. He tried stumbling his way through an explanation, but quite honestly, it hurt to hear it. Stupid girl. He should know that explaining includes sentences, not words such as "stethoscope" and "stirrups". So I tried making a joke, but that fear just stayed there, not budging, and I got to admit, it actually made me consider hugging him for real – no joke – but then I realised that his hips were still against mine, and that he had yet to move.

And then… he just made it harder. Not me, I mean; I wasn't physically turned on by any of this – hell, its Newbie, its Nancy, Naomi, Nellie, the girl that hasn't stopped following me since she arrived four years ago. Not to mention the alarming and unbelievable fact that she's a guy.

He just started trying to get me to move away from him, move my hips, my chest, my arm away from him – and that's when I started to feel something slightly more disturbing welling up inside me. Not arousal, not passion, not desire… but what I can only describe as a huge lust for power. Here was Newbie, physically weaker than me and directly opposite me with not a hope in hell of escaping without my permission, and he was in a very vulnerable state. So, I did something very wrong. Something that, no doubt, will end up having a really, really bad effect on our student-mentor relationship.

I offered him the chance to ask me to help out his little problem.

Don't go judging me, he was looking all vulnerable and weak, and that made me want to control him. Nothing more. I knew he wouldn't ask anyway, so it's not like anything would've come out of it.

Once I'd moved away from his ear, I looked in his eyes again, preparing to torment him even more – but the look he gave me was so damn innocent, so stupidly shocked that I couldn't. I got away from him and moved to the window so she could get herself together without me looking and then ended up giving him a little serious talk.

…

People would wonder why I did what I did, but you can't do that. I don't even know. All I know is that since then, all I can see when I look at Newbie is a victim. Not of me, as such; as far as I'm concerned, I just screwed with him a little more than usual. But a general victim, the geek, the fool, the mourning little boy that misses his Dad.

I envy him that.

Anyway. The next step of course was to make it up to him. I paid a little visit to his brother Dan, de-bearding him of his bubbles, and then dragging him to the store. That boy needs to get his goddamn balls out and learn how to take responsibility for his little brother, and I'm pretty sure I made that clear enough to him. We stopped by my place, raided my mass of Detroit Red Wings sweatshirts for one small enough for Newbie, and then (after getting my car washed, thanks to Newbie's "ingenious" attempt at revenge) we arrived at his place, ready to watch the college game. Newbie literally freaked out the moment I walked into the room, and no matter what he says, I'm pretty damn sure that the fear wasn't because of what he did to my car. Looking at him after the game finished, all huddled down in that jersey that was still too big for him, talking about his Dad, made me realise that no matter what I told myself, I had messed with little Amy's mind when it was at its most vulnerable, and I gotta admit… I felt pretty sick with myself.

For a few minutes, at least. By the end of the night, we were all pretty drunk. Dan the most – or so I assumed. He'd had most of the beers. I forgot, in my own slightly tipsy bubble, that Newbie didn't drink much, and that three beers got him well on his way to a hangover. We all laughed and chatted like old friends (it was torture until about my eighth beer), ordered more pizza and ended up watching a cheap knock-off of Baywatch.

"Say there Newbie," I said, not taking my eyes from the screen, "how're you feeling?"

He shrugged, taking a sip (yes, a sip; further proving my vagina theory) of his beer and keeping his own eyes fixed on the TV. "Better I guess. The beer is definitely helping."

I grinned, shaking my head and risking a glance at him; he was either absorbed in the programme or thinking really hard about something. Judging from the way his eyes followed the bounce of the magnificent breasts that were on the screen at that moment in time, I assumed his concentration was aimed at the women. "As are the visual aids, I wager. A girl after my own heart." I raised my bottle to him and took a swig, idly sifting through the pizza boxes as I did so, looking for any spare pizza slices. I unearthed a box that we had apparently forgotten halfway through, a super-hot one that Newbie had failed to finish even one slice of, favouring the margherita and pepperoni. I took a bite, savouring the taste explosion in comparison to the seemingly weak beer (I was used to scotch for Christ sakes) and offered the box to Dan and Newbie.

"Did you eat all that pizza?" Dan slurred, sitting up and pointing at all the boxes. "Coxy, I'm disappointed in you… the pizza… deserves respect…"

"The pizza deserves mouths and teeths and… and… stomachs!" Newbie cried, holding his beer aloft in respect of what was left of the pizza, and reached out for a slice. "Pepperoni city, here I come!"

"Wait Newbie, that's -"

He turned to face me, blue eyes alight with drunken liveliness, questioning. "Yes, Perryyyyyyy?"

Well, he broke the rules. He called me Perry – not only that, he elongated the "y" and therefore making it even worse to my ears. So, I simply grinned and held my own beer aloft. "God love you, Newbie."

"God does love me," he confirmed, looking lovingly at the pizza before opening his mouth and coming down on it hard, ripping a huge chunk from it. He chewed for a few moments, a big smile on his face and seemingly ignorant to what he'd just started to eat – and then it hit him, hoo-boy did it hit him! He opened his mouth a couple of times, before lifting his hand to his mouth, waving it as if to encourage cold air to enter and aid his pain – his eyes were watering (I made sure to focus on his mouth, as this would indeed count as a woman crying) and he was shaking his head back and forth whilst Dan looked incredibly concerned, reaching out and patting him on the back, saying something like, "Little brother, you're dying, but you're ready, God is ready to take you in his arms -"

I however, was laughing like a crazy person by this point, on a high from that spicy pizza and the fifteen or so beers that I'd so far tipped down my throat. I leaned over and whacked him on the back, despite knowing he wasn't choking, and said loudly over Dan's continued ramblings, "Bit hot for you there, Newbie?" and grinned at him as he turned his eyes on me.

"Oh my god, I think Hell has just taken refuge on my tongue," he sputtered, dropping the pizza slice on the floor (Dan threw himself to the ground and caught it, shovelling it in straight away) and standing up, swaying slightly on the spot. It was at that point that I remembered he had drunk eight beers so far, and for Newbie, that was a hell of a lot. I stood up and put my hand on his shoulder, to steady him, and he threw my hand off with a lot more violence than I'm used to with him, and shouted, "UNHAND ME, SATANS BIATCH!"

There was silence for a few seconds before he shook his head, eyes watering like a little girls still, and ran to the bathroom (sliding on what I can only assume was another slice of pizza), slamming the door shut behind him. Dan and I stared at each other for what seemed like hours, both of us swimming in our own drunken state, before we heard the shower start. Dan started to laugh, and stumbled his own way to the bathroom, throwing open the door and saying, "Hey Johnny, you gotta take your clothes off first!"

At this, I jumped up off of the sofa and strode into the bathroom, recoiling in disgust at the sight of my jersey being soaked onto this now pathetic looking creature standing underneath the shower, hair plastered to his head, water dripping from his noise – it has to be said, Newbie looked like a complete wreck. He looked up as a I walked in, and grinned a huge smile at me, saying, "Heeey, it's Perry!" before turning to Dan and murmuring (very loudly) "Hey Dan, can you ask him if now is the right time to ask for that hug he tried to give me earlier today?"

Dan turned to me, pointing his finger, his own blue eyes (paler than Newbie's) glittering with amusement. It was at this point that I knew if the conversation went any further, I would be in a very awkward place which could only lead to me knocking both of them unconscious. Instead, I walked further into the room and grabbed the younger brother around the waist.

"What say you give me a hand there, Dan?" I asked, pulling Lauren from the shower and grimacing as the water squelched against me, trying not to imagine how much the jersey would suffer for this as his feet fell over the side of the bath, laughter bubbling out of his throat. Dan nodded and half-heartedly grabbed Newbie's head as I dragged him through the living room and to his bedroom, muttering under my breath about dumb-assed siblings (not that Dan noticed of course). I set Newbie on the floor, and then looked to Dan for help. "You going to get him undressed for me?"

With a grin, Dan nodded and knelt down beside me, reaching for JD's socks – and collapsed on top of his legs.

Hell no.

Undress Newbie? Are you kidding me? I looked down at his face, which was tilted to the side as he mumbled god knows what to himself, arms splayed out above his head. I stood up, looking at him before deciding.

"Newbie. Get up, get undressed and get in bed."

His head slowly turned towards me, a grin unfolding on his face.

"I bet you say that to all the girls."

I blanched; I had thought he would be in no state to be making jokes right now, but apparently I was very wrong. I stared at him for a moment, before shaking my head and crossing my arms across my chest. "Come on Annie, I don't want to have to do it myself. Just… get your clothes off and I'll do the rest."

"Is that the best you can do?" His blue eyes found mine for a second, and as they met mine, I felt that feeling start to rise again, that want for power, for domination even over Newbie. His eyes were so innocent, yet the words coming out of his mouth were complete flirtation – obviously not the serious kind, he was out of his head – and I wanted to reply in kind, I kind of wanted to keep this game going. I wanted to show him that no, I could do a hell of a lot better and that though it involved my tongue, it didn't necessarily involve words…

But I didn't. I simply sighed and tried one last time. "Come on Newbie. You need to go to sleep."

"Okay," he whispered, closing his eyes and letting his head fall to the right side, obviously intend on sleeping where he lay. I knew what I had to do, but hell, I didn't want to do it. Not after this afternoon, and especially not after the thoughts that had spread through my mind at his innocent teasing.

So, I knelt beside him and wrapped my arm around his shoulders, bringing him up to my chest. Carefully, I held him with my right arm and let my left hand find the bottom of the jersey, grasping it tightly and pulling it up his body. It didn't help that it was soaking wet, but I didn't have a choice. If he stayed in these clothes, god knows what he'd feel like in the morning.

I ignored closely the fact that I cared.

I managed to get it over his face, and then eventually it was only on his arms; leaning over him, I pulled it free from him, throwing it in the corner of the room and sighing as Newbie opened his eyes slightly and mumbled something. I leaned down and put my ear to his lips, but he didn't repeat it, so I simply set back to work. The t-shirt was relatively easy to pull off, but it revealed that his chest was damp – goddamn it, Newbie, why did you have to go and give yourself a damned shower with your clothes on? I reached over for a towel that was discarded next to a chest of drawers and sniffed it slightly to make sure it was somewhat clean. I couldn't detect anything other than a faint whiff of lavender (dear god, Lucy) so I roughly started drying his chest, trying to ignore that I was turning it the faintest pink. There was no point being gentle, god knows what he'd start imagining this time.

"Not so hard," he moaned slightly in his half-asleep state. I growled slightly under my breath ("sissy"), and lifted him back up again so I could dry his back. I rubbed it slightly less harshly, trying to keep my face above his hair, as it was annoyingly soft and seemed to insist on touching me.

"Goddamn Newbie, why's your hair so bloody fluffy?" I muttered, imagining him to be asleep, until I heard a faint reply from around my neck area.

"You ought to see the rest of me."

I forced myself to look at him, the shock of this answer coursing through me; what the hell was wrong with him? Eight beers and a nympho?

He opened his eyes slowly and looked back at me, their light blue gaze roving to glance at me holding him close, his bare chest, my eyes fixed on him. He looked at me for moments on end, looking slightly confused and slightly amused. He started to smile, but stopped halfway, stuck. I didn't smile back – I couldn't. He was confusing the hell out of me, and what was worse was that I was letting him.

"Get a hold of yourself Newbie, this isn't Queer Eye fucks the Straight Guy," I said gruffly, lowering him to the ground and standing up. I looked down on him like earlier and shook my head slightly. He'd better get a grip on himself for work tomorrow. "You gonna do the rest yourself? I've had quite enough of your so called 'manliness' for one day."

"Yeah sure. Sure, whatever," he mumbled, forcing himself to sit up, his fingers fumbling at the button on his jeans.

"Whoa, wait 'til I've left the premises Hermione," I reprimanded, turning around and heading for the bedroom door. I made my way out, grabbing my car keys from the table and looking around at the mess. Ah hell, they could clean it up tomorrow. I didn't need to help out, I was the one making the effort in the first place.

Just as I was pulling open the front door, I hear a noise from behind me; I turned around, and standing there, wearing a pair of old jogging bottoms and clutching a pillow, was Newbie, eyes sleepily finding me amidst the rubbish.

We stood there in silence for a few seconds, staring at each other.

And then he spoke.

"Please stay."

His voice was so quiet I had to strain to understand, but after a few more seconds of staring at each other, I got the point and stared a little more. His eyes were tired, but completely and utterly sincere. Drunk, but sincere.

Don't stay. It'll just stretch the boundaries you worked so hard to set.

"Please Dr. Cox. Just… stay."

For a few more seconds we just stared at each other.

Don't you dare stay. He's messed up right now and doesn't really need you to stay.

"Dan's passed out, you can sleep on the couch."

Don't. You. Dare.

"You can have -"

"Just get me a pillow, Newbie, and that'll be… fine."

Asshole.